


Episode 24 - "Choices"

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 3 - "Time Lord Penitent" [14]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Emberverse - S. M. Stirling, Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-05 04:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11006457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: The TARDIS brings our narrator and his friends to an Earth undergoing a shift in the physical laws of the universe, one that will collapse society and lead to billions of deaths.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on December 21st, 2014.

There was a change in the TARDIS after our meeting with Granny Weatherwax. The great witch of the Discworld had given myself and Korra words to think on. Words to lead us to the choices we had been putting off.  
  
Before either of us could make a decision, however, there was one last adventure awaiting us.  
  
I was sitting alone in the control chamber tinkering with the sonic screwdriver. Nothing groundbreaking, just a little tinkering. More like playing with it, to be honest. A shadow loomed over me. "Hello, Asami," I said.  
  
I looked up and behind me. Asami was looking at me curiously. "How could you tell it was me? The shadow isn't very detailed."  
  
"You're taller," I answered. "Changes the shadow's size compared to Korra's. And your footsteps sound a little different on the walkway from the different mass. I can tell."  
  
"Oh. Of course." Asami sat down next to me. "It seems that since you and Korra talked to that old lady, you're both being really quiet."  
  
I smiled thinly and nodded. "Yes. Quite a lot to think about it."  
  
"So you really don't want to be the Doctor anymore?", Asami asked me.  
  
I didn't answer at first. I pressed the sonic screwdriver's test function a few times to see it light up with purple. My favorite color. "I don't know," I finally admitted. "I feel like it was a role that I was pushed into. I mean, the TARDIS, the sonic screwdriver being given a color I liked. All of those suits that the original Doctor wore being in my wardrobe."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"They're long gone." I smirked. "Mouse took care of them. Made quite a mess in the process." I held the sonic level with my hands, resting my elbows on my legs just above the knee. "Granted, I can't say I was entirely forced into the name. I took it almost from the beginning as bravado. I changed my TARDIS' chameleon circuit to resemble the Doctor's TARDIS. But I don't know if this is something I want to keep being. How much did taking that name accelerate my loss of identity? Could I get it back by trying to take another?" At this point I was just thinking out loud. "Or I'd just get yet another new identity and start going mad. Well, more mad than usual." I looked over to her. "How about you? Anything on your mind?"  
  
"I'm just worried about Korra. I thought it would cheer her up to hear me say we needed the Avatar, but it doesn't seem to be working."  
  
I nodded. "Tricky bit with her is.... where does the Avatar end and Korra begin? I mean, is she just a container for a greater spirit or is she her own being as well? After a lifetime of having her status as Avatar drilled into her as a great and important thing, maybe she needs to be reminded that Korra is important too."  
  
"She _is_ ," Asami insisted.  
  
I looked at her. The fervent declaration had emotion to it. More than I'd expected. "Yes," I said. "Give her time, Asami." I put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
We remained silent for a minute or so. I heard footsteps behind me. "So, where are we?" Korra's voice prompted us to turn our heads.  
  
"We're parked off a temporally-charged wormhole," I answered. "The TARDIS needed a little tipping off of the tank."  
  
"Where are we going next?", Korra asked.  
  
"Oh, plenty of possible places to visit," I replied. "It depends on what you want to see." I stood up and went to standing by the controls, near where Korra was looking at them. "What are you in the mood for?"  
  
Korra seemed to be in thought for a moment. She looked to Asami and lowered her eyes. "I think.... I don't know. We've been just about everywhere."  
  
"Well, lots of places, certainly." I scratched at my chin. "Could always see if Emperor Vir is throwing another party. He's good with those."  
  
"I don't think I'm in the partying mood," Korra answered.  
  
I nodded. "Okay. A quiet valley? Maybe a little visit to the History Monks' monastery? It's nice and contemplative there, and the Monks owe me a favor or two over the millennia."  
  
Korra shook her head. "I don't think I want to be around monks either."  
  
"Ah. Ah, I see." I put my hands together in contemplation. "You're not so much interested in going somewhere as you are in just going, eh?"  
  
"Yeah, maybe."  
  
"Well. Hrm." I snapped my fingers. "Let's try something." I started twisting knobs on the TARDIS without looking. "Safeties on... I'm going to pick a random spot. No idea where we'll wind up, when we'll end up, all that. But we'll be somewhere, eh?" I reached for the lever and pulled.  
  
As the TARDIS engine finished its VWORPing, a sudden shudder rumbled through her. It got my immediate attention. "Well now, what was that?", I asked rhetorically. I checked the readings. Most factors appeared normal, but there were some indications of something... off.  
  
Asami opened the TARDIS door. The outside was dark. "It's a small city," she said. "But it's all dark."  
  
I walked to the exit and agreed. It was a North American city. Older downtown area I would think. Not a single light was on, however. "Widescale power outage of some sort," I pondered aloud. I took a step out.  
  
And I knew it was more than that.  
  
My Time Lord senses could feel it. There was something wrong. Something... twisted. An oily feeling in the energy of the air. I had felt like this only a few times before; in the presence of _Walpurgisnacht_ and later Homura's witch labyrinth. But it wasn't quite the same, so I knew it couldn't be that. Just the same precept of something distorting the fabric of space-time in some unknown way.  
  
I held up the sonic and turned it on, using it for a light. The streets were quiet for the moment. People had presumably rushed indoors or to find shelter. Clouds overhead showed that a shower had been raining down, driving people indoors on the cool night. The road was slick.  
  
And at the extent of my hearing, I heard a cry for help.  
  
"This way," I said, and they followed me toward the source.  
  
A large SUV had slammed into a car nearby, pinning it against a wall. It had partly crushed the driver's side in. I could see a limp head against the side of the crushed window. A second body, caked in blood, was halfway out of the shattered windshield. The SUV's driver had been careless and wasn't wearing a seatbelt when they impacted. A fatal mistake. Humans can be silly creatures. "Should I make us a light?", Korra asked.  
  
"No, no fire, there might be petrol leaks or the like," I warned. "Asami?"  
  
Asami pulled out her electric torch - or flashlight if you prefer. I heard it click.  
  
But no light appeared.  
  
I looked back to her in the gloom. I held up the sonic screwdriver and scanned. "Your batteries have no power in them," I said.  
  
"That's not possible, I recharged them this morning," she insisted.  
  
My brow furrowed as I looked back out at the dark city around us. I wondered....  
  
"Please help," a weak voice croaked inside of the car.  
  
Right. First things first. I looked to the pinned car. its engine was intact. "Can you turn the car on?", I asked the occupant. "The engine will work, if the engine's on the car can slide out!"  
  
One of the forms inside shifted. "It's not turning on," the person said, the voice clearly feminine. "I tried."  
  
"Try again, it should work."  
  
I watched the shadow move over. After several seconds I could... well, nothing. I looked at my sonic's scan results. No electricity was reaching the starter. Even though I saw no signs of damage.  
  
Puzzling.  
  
"I've got this," Korra said. She assumed an Earthbending stance and pulled at the SUV. I saw strain in her face as she did so; the plastics in the vehicle meant it wasn't entirely metal and that the weight of the plastic was essentially dead weight to pull. But within seconds she had pulled the vehicle back enough to expose the driver's side doors. Asami and I opened them.  
  
Inside were a pair of teenagers, one looking almost college age and the other maybe sixteen or seventeen. The driver was in his late thirties or early forties. All three had African complexions and appearance. "He's dead," I murmured at a single scan. "Brain injury. Come on..."  
  
I brought the dead man out quietly and reached in again for the young woman beside him. The impact had jostled her badly but I didn't see wounds as severe. She used what strength she had to pull herself out. In the back seat Asami was getting a young lady with a broken arm out she had been on the driver's side and was directly injured by the impact.  
  
As soon as we had both out Korra had water ready for their worst injuries. I knelt beside them. "Can you say what happened?"  
  
The younger girl rubbed at her head. "We were just coming home from dinner," she said weakly. "And then... I mean, it was like nothing but pain for a second. And then the car lights died and the engine cut out and that car slammed into us."  
  
"How long ago?", I asked.  
  
"A few minutes, I think." She blinked. "I can't remember."  
  
"And nobody helped you?", I continued.  
  
"Everyone is inside. Probably watching the news. Something weird was going on up north."  
  
"Oh?", I asked.  
  
"Yeah," she continued. "There was some kind of storm up in Massachusetts. One of those islands had some weird bunch of lights over it or something."  
  
I paused. Something tickled my memory. "Really? Which island?"  
  
"I don't remember..."  
  
The other girl stirred as Korra treated her injured head. "I.... I think it was... it was 'tucket' something."  
  
I felt my expression tense as facts fell into place. I leaned over her. "Was it _Nantucket_?"  
  
"Yeah," the young woman said weakly. "It was that one. Nantucket."  
  
I swallowed and reached for the TARDIS control. "Well, that explains things," I sighed.  
  
"How does that have anything to do with the entire city losing power?", Asami asked.  
  
"It's not just the city," I answered, unable to keep my voice from showing my growing horror. "It's the entire world." Now I knew why the energy of this place felt wrong, why it felt so oily. "Something has literally altered several physical laws on this world to make technology stop working."  
  
"Wow, that's... that's incredible," Korra said with genuine amazement. "That's really powerful. How could something do that?"  
  
"I don't know. But we have to stop it." I was almost half afraid of my control's functionality until I heard the TARDIS start VWORPing into place beside us. "Otherwise, billions of people across this planet are going to die."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
As we loaded the injured young ladies into the TARDIS, Korra finally took the time to ask me about my statement. "What do you mean by billions of people dying without technology?"  
  
"Well, Korra," I began, "you've seen other Earths like this, yes? And you've seen how many cities they have that are the size of Republic City, or even larger?"  
  
"Well... yeah," she said.  
  
"Now consider. How can that many people live so closely and so tightly without creating a sanitation nightmare? Without running out of food and drinkable water? What makes Republic City _work_?"  
  
"Infrastructure," Asami answered, looking up from where she was settling one of the survivors down with a mild painkiller. Both girls, with the medication in their bodies, were starting to nod off. "We have railroads and roads to bring in food and raw materials to keep everyone fed. We have water reservoirs and pipelines to move water into republic City. And we have electricity to maintain water pressure with pumping systems, and to refrigerate food. Without electricity or the ability to power cars or trains..." Her face was paling as she considered the full effect of what I was saying.  
  
"But Ba Sing Se has a lot of people too, and has had that many for centuries," Korra pointed out.  
  
"They had infrastructure using Earthbender powered rail cars," I reminded her. "This world doesn't have Earthbenders."  
  
"If you did something like this to Republic City, even with Earthbenders it would cause a lot of suffering," Asami added. "Here...."  
  
"Exactly why we must act," I said. I went to the TARDIS controls. "Our next stop is Nantucket Island."  
  
  
  
  
For those unfamiliar with it, Nantucket is off the southern coast of Massachusetts, southeast of Martha's Vineyard. It spent much of the 19th Century as a center for American whaling fleets, which in conjunction of others of that kind helped to drive several of those gentle species into near-extinction.  
  
Fitting that it would be the focal point for an event that would drive Humanity in the same direction.  
  
Hrm, pondering such things.... I think having a run-in with the like of the Planeteers left a mark. How intriguing.  
  
But that island was not this one. This one was thick with trees. It was a primordial land, the night sky and its stars blacked out at parts from the trees. In the distance I could see a fire. Natives, the distant ancestors of those poor souls who in this world had died from the shot and pestilence of Europe.  
  
And as I stepped out, I could feel what the TARDIS confirmed. It wasn't just the oily wrongness of the perverted space-time of the rest of the Earth. It was like being around a live wire. The air brimmed with energy. Temporal energy, psychokinetic, spiritual, the Force... name the energy and it would fit.  
  
I turned. Korra had a flame crackling in her palm. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder and surprise. "I can't believe it. It's almost like being in the Spirit World here. I feel so much in the air."  
  
"This is Ground Zero for a major temporal shift," I said. "This is not some uncontrolled natural occurrence. Not in origin. This is artifice."  
  
 _Indeed._  
  
The voice came to my mind, soft and gentle, that of a woman. I blinked at it and frowned. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"I didn't hear anything," Asami said.  
  
"I did." Korra looked in one direction. "This way."  
  
With the TARDIS locked and secured we entered the forest, moving a ways until we found another clearing near the water. A campfire seemed to be burning and three figures sat around it. I heard Korra gasp as she stepped close enough to make out figures. I looked past her to them and realized why.  
  
In the middle I recognized Senna. To Senna's right was Jinora, to her left was Katara. I blinked.  
  
"That's not possible," I heard Korra say. "You're spirits using their faces to get into my head."  
  
"We thought to assume forms you would be familiar with," the Senna figure said.  
  
"Why?", Korra asked, a little heat in her voice.  
  
I smirked. "Pagan, or rather neo-pagan symbolism. The Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone or Wise Woman," I said, since thinking of Katara as a "crone" seemed insulting. "The Triple Goddess. Is that what you see yourself as?"  
  
"It would not be inaccurate," the fake Katara said. "And what are you?"  
  
"Time Lord," I answered.  
  
"Yes, but you are not her." They all looked to Korra. "You are something more. Something we had never imagined possible."  
  
"I'm the Avatar," Korra answered quietly. With none of the exuberance to which she used to ascribe her title.  
  
"From other Wheels," "Jinora" said, smiling. "We have felt such as possible. But not like you."  
  
"Are you doing this?", Korra asked. "Are you the ones trying to destroy this world?"  
  
"Destroy? No." The three figures looked at each other. "We understand what it is you speak of. The Change we have caused."  
  
"It is s terrible thing," the Jinora lamented. "But not the most terrible."  
  
I raised my eyebrows. "You are about to cause untold suffering upon millions of people. You are laying waste to an entire civilization. And you say there is something _worse_?"  
  
"It saddens us," the Katara said. "But it gains time to make things right."  
  
But you’re talking about millions of deaths!”, Asami protested. “Can’t you find another way?”  
  
“We have tried.”  
  
“Not bloody hard enough,” I snarled. “No. There has to be a better way.”  
  
“You do not understand,” Senna sighed. She looked at Korra. “Do you? We appeared to you as this because you are the one with the spirit to understand what is going on.”  
  
“It’s wrong to kill that many people,” Korra insisted. “We have to find another way!”  
  
The three looked at each other yet again. “If we do not act, the Others will. They will bring entropy. They will destroy the world entirely. Life would die out. The sufferings they would cause would be legion and far greater in scope to the sad necessity before us.”  
  
“Then tell us what to do to stop these others,” I said. “I am a Time Lord and she is the Avatar. Between my technology and her power we could end this threat.”  
  
“But are you capable? You question your places. Weakness will be seized by the Others.” The Mother Senna looked at Korra. “Child, do not interfere with this.”  
  
“Could you stop us?”, Asami challenged.  
  
That was when pain struck, fierce and terrible. Asami cried out and collapsed. I groaned and began to fall over to my knees. I reached for my sonics. Or rather I tried. But my arms would not answer my commands. “Unnnrg....” I couldn’t speak to Korra, as I saw her struggle against... whatever it was they were doing.  
  
Korra was ready to collapse as well. But I saw her eyes start to flash. The wind picked up. Fire came to life around her. She was entering the Avatar State.  
  
The three beings - or one being acting in three parts, possibly - looked at this with consternation. The looks of effort on their faces intensified.  
  
“Kor...nnggh...” My attempt to speak again failed. Pain began to overwhelm every sense as my eyes stopped seeing.  
  
And everything began to grow dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator tries to find a way to stop the Change.

Whatever the entities in question were doing, it had smashed through my mental defenses and left me helpless. I couldn’t see if Asami was conscious. I couldn’t see anything. All I knew was Korra was still up.  
  
And then the pain lifted. Like it had never been there. The pain still throbbed for a minute but couldn’t keep me from lifting my head. Asami groaned and began to stir.  
  
I looked at the others. Korra was in the full Avatar State. The three figures were locked in place, looking at her with surprise and... was that a hint of pleasure? I wasn’t sure. “Go....” I heard Korra rasp. “I... can keep you... free... _stop them_.”  
  
“Right. Come along, Asami.” I got to my feet and took Asami by the hand. “We’ve got work to do.”  
  
“But Korra...!”  
  
“She’ll be fine,” I insisted as we ran from the camp and back into the wood. Well, okay, I couldn’t be entirely sure she would be, but there wasn’t anything we could do there. From the TARDIS, on the other hand?  
  
I knew precisely what to do.  
  
We picked up speed going through the underbrush and put speed over caution.  
  
And as a result, I almost took an arrow in the head.  
  
It whistled by me and smacked into a tree nearby. I heard the light sound of another bow firing and pulled Asami low. Another arrow went right where her heart had been. “What’s going on?”, she asked.  
  
“The natives of the island. Poor men are terrified by what’s happened and are trying to protect their homes. Come on!” I scrambled back to my feet and pulled out the sonic disruptor. The next arrow struck its defensive shield. There were hushed sounds of fear from nearby growth. “That will scare them for a while. Let’s keep going!”  
  
We continued on our way and got back to the TARDIS. As we got to the door I heard a twig snap and whirled about. My sonic disruptor knocked the bone dart out of the air at the last minute. “Brave of them,” I muttered, wishing the opposite. I couldn’t blame them for their reaction, I was just too busy to be nice about it. I fired a long-distance kinetic blast from the disruptor and heard a distant cry of surprise and a thump. “For your own good, stay away!” I shouted before opening the TARDIS door.  
  
When we entered, Asami got out of my way and let me get to the controls. “So how are we going to help Korra?”  
  
“By distracting them,” I answered. “And hopefully by fixing this mess.”  
  
“You mean by finding a way to restore the proper rules of physics?”  
  
“Exactly!” I snapped my fingers for effect. “The TARDIS pocket dimension has a non-warped real space-time environment. The proper laws of physics still exist in here. _Mostly_ ,” I hastily corrected. “But the important part is that they exist in here. And I can use that as a template. I can re-impose the proper rules of physics over the new state this being formed.”  
  
“But what’s to stop it from just doing it again?”, Asami asked.  
  
I stopped for a moment and sighed. “Good question. But we’ll deal with that when we can. Every minute we delay, people will die.” I pointed to the controls. “Please get on those controls. Upper right switches. Make sure the status light remains blue.”  
  
“Right.” Asami nodded firmly and did as I asked.  
  
I returned to work myself, preparing the TARDIS for what would be a massive outlay of power. I felt my hearts pick up in pace as the calculations ran through my mind. I had never done something like this before. Not of this scale. This wasn’t sealing a Crack. This was effectively rewriting the underpinnings of creation on a planetary scale. If I was off by just a bit... I could destroy the TARDIS. Or worse.  
  
A very quiet part of my mind pointed out the risks may be far more than one world. That I was risking quadrillions to save billions. The math of that was all wrong.  
  
But... I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. This was wrong. It had to be stopped.  
  
As I was about to throw the switch on the TARDIS I felt something shift in the internal energy field. It was faint and quiet. I turned toward the door. “Who are you?”  
  
Again there were three figures. But now... now they were taking from my past. I swallowed at seeing them effect the appearance of Katherine, Charity Carpenter, and... yes, Granny Weatherwax. “Do you intend to undo the Change?”, the Katherine asked.  
  
I didn’t answer. I turned my head away. “I don’t appreciate people getting into my head and plucking forth people from my past to use against me,” I growled. I couldn’t let them distract me. I had to keep my eye on the calculations.  
  
“There is no other way,” the Charity figure said. “The dissonance must be settled. Time is needed. This will give time for a solution.”  
  
“Ain’t a happy thing, but it’s what must be done.” The Crone appearing as Granny Weatherwax even spoke with her usual inflection.  
  
I gave them the benefit of a look in the eye. “Is it? Are you saying that it will be okay to kill billions rather than find another solution? That the ends justify those means?’  
  
Had they shown true reluctance, had they done even that, I might have relented. But there was none. “It must be done,” I was informed again.  
  
I actually looked their way. “Must it? Hrm?” I shook my head. Hearing their words, thinking of the situation, it brought things back. It made me remember things I’d rather not.  
  
“You still don’t understand.”  
  
“Oh, but that’s where you’re _wrong_ ,” I countered. “Because _I do understand_. I understand perfectly! _I’ve been there before_ ,” I said, my voice getting louder with frustration and pain. “I was ready to make this same decision! To say that killing billions to save trillions was acceptable, that it was _necessary_. And I am eternally thankful that I had a friend that was willing to _stop me_.”  
  
“There is too much at stake.”  
  
With that the three beings held up their hands. I groaned as pain slammed into my senses again. I could hear the moan from Asami, who slumped against the controls. It wasn’t as bad this time, though. Whether it was the effort of projecting themselves or itself into the TARDIS or because it was being stalemated by Korra, they couldn’t hit us like before.  
  
I pushed the pain from my thoughts, got to the TARDIS controls, and hit the final lever.  
  
The _VWORP_ began, picking up speed as the TARDIS went to its limits. The door opened and I could sense the energy coming out, the TARDIS’ power forcing itself into the world around it, trying to overwhelm the local space-time.  
  
The beings in question slackened their attack. The TARDIS’ field was weakening them as well. “Why are you fightin’ us, fool?”, the fake Granny Weatherwax demanded. “You know sometimes this is the only way.”  
  
“Because....” I swallowed. “Because that is what I _do_. I defend _life_.”  
  
“You say that, but we see within you,” fake Charity said. “You don’t know who you are or who you want to be. You have thrown away the identity you took and grasp about to replace it.”  
  
“Maybe so. Yes, maybe so. But that doesn’t change what I believe. I believe you are wrong, and I will _fight_ to stop you,” I rasped through the pain. I returned my attention to the TARDIS controls.  
  
The beings in question focused a little. The pain increased on me. More than that, as my vision blurred and blood trickled from my nose, I could see the readings from the TARDIS. They were resisting it. They were trying to collapse its expanding dimensional field to prevent it from reimposing physics on the world. “You are powerful and clever,” fake Katherine said. “But you cannot defeat us. We are the All of Mankind, of all life. And we have seen this is necessary.”  
  
“No... it... isn’t....”  
  
There was a warning buzz from the controls. The field had to be adjusted to deal with the resistance. But they were focusing on me and I was finding myself unable to move. I growled and tried to focus on the controls. But my hand would not move.  
  
“Sleep,” one of the three - I couldn’t make them out - ordered me.  
  
I slumped over and hit the floor. It was taking everything I had to stay conscious. Deep in my mind I calculated what was going wrong; if the field wasn’t adjusted, feedback would, well, not destroy the TARDIS, but severely damage it. It might even reverse what I planned; instead of the TARDIS reinforcing normal physical laws, the altered ones would be forced into the TARDIS, rendering its technology inoperable.  
  
I couldn’t let that happen.  
  
But I couldn’t move.  
  
I strained with my eyes and heard a gasp of effort. Asami rose from the other side of the controls. Blood seeped from her nostrils and lip. Tears of pain flowed down her cheeks. But her face showed raw effort and will. She held herself up against the controls and reached over, taking the field control and turning it as I would have. The lights went to their proper color. She cried out a moment later as the attention was focused on her. The attack on me slackened.  
  
And then it relented. The three entities began to fade, unable to keep their presence with the TARDIS field adjusting to us. I tried to get up as quickly as I could and looked over to Asami, who lay still. Disturbingly so. I went over and checked her. Her face was pale and she didn’t move, didn’t twitch.  
  
Fear gripped me. I could barely put my hand to her wrist to check for a pulse that looked like it might not be there.  
  
I was answered by the gentle thrum of a functioning pulse under my thumb. That prompted a sigh of relief, I admit.  
  
I went to the controls next. The TARDIS was again starting to overwrite what this unknown Mind Entity or Entities had one to the world. I looked over the numbers, I made the calculations.  
  
I cursed. There wasn’t enough power. This thing was too strong.  
  
The TARDIS door opened. Korra stumbled in, looking fatigued as I did. Dried blood was crusted to her nostrils. She righted herself until she saw Asami and how she was laid out. “Asami..!” She stumbled over to her and looked up at me. “What happened?!”  
  
“They tried to attack the TARDIS,” I said weakly, rubbing at the blood on my own face. “Asami managed to do the field alteration we needed to avoid catastrophe. They didn’t like that. Don’t worry, she’s...”  
  
“...alive.” The relief was palpable in her voice. “I wish I’d been strong enough to come back and protect you,” Korra said “I’ve never seen a spirit that powerful. Not even Vaatu.”  
  
“I don’t think it’s one,” I answered. “Their power signatures have unique elements in each. I think it’s some sort of hive mind gestault.... ah ha!” I snapped my fingers. My brain was lurching back to full speed. “Quantum information preservation. That’s what this is. Something about this world, it... it preserves the basic information of every being, they sort of merge together in some odd way, and over time their numbers have grown with the larger population on Earth.” I rubbed at my head. “And with this past century being especially bad... I wonder if that’s what they meant by Others.”  
  
“I felt a lot of tension when I was locked with them,” Korra said.  
  
“And a lot of energy too, all from the shifting of the island with its counterpart in another fifth dimensional space time coordinate.” I scratched at my chin. “I wonder if I could disrupt that link. If the feedback might force this thing to stop. Maybe even shock it enough to not have it try again.”  
  
“Do what you have to,” Korra said. “I’ll help in any way I can.”  
  
“There’s some medigel in the lower compartment and a bottle of fresh spring water for you,” I said.  
  
And so we went to work.  
  
  
  
  
I was about ready to act when there was a knock on the door of the TARDIS.  
  
Korra had gotten Asami up by that point and they were providing help as I went through the calculations and the work of readying the TARDIS to change tactics. The knock interrupted my thoughts and made me turn. I eyed them and we all crept toward the door.  
  
 _We want to speak. A truce._  
  
I narrowed my eyes. “If they act, Korra...”  
  
“I’ll get them,” she answered.  
  
I opened the door of the TARDIS. They had dropped the neopagan symbolism now. There was just the faux Katara. And another figure, one I had to take a moment to recognize. I hid my surprise at seeing my own self image portrayed. I appraised them both intentionally and said, “State your purpose.”  
  
“I am here to support you,” the fake me said. “We are against this meaningless endeavor.”  
  
“And I am here to plead with you,” the other said in Katara’s gentle voice. “He represents the Others. He, they, wish this world for themselves.”  
  
“I wish this world to be unfettered,” the Other me said. He walked up to meet me eye to eye. “To let it flourish.”  
  
“To bring about entropy, to control with chaos and make light of lives.”  
  
Fake Me barely seemed to notice fake Katara. “You of all people should understand me. You should recognize what I want and why it is better.”  
  
“That remains to be seen,” I replied. “I’m all for freedom of intelligent beings, but there’s a difference between freedom and bloody mayhem.”  
  
“Are you listening to them? The voices that are responsible for the thing you seek to reverse?”  
  
“I happen to see they’re very frightened, and may be for good reason.” I looked from one to the other. “I believe I understand what’s going on. You represent the... Mind, if you will, of all beings who have lived on this world before. But your numbers have grown beyond your ability to remain stable. You’re experiencing some sort of... of split personality, each cut wanting different things, and what’s left of the stable center of your mind trying to keep the peace and hoping that this... this technology destruction will alter Human society such that it will provide more stabilizing influences as its numbers pass into yours.”  
  
“That is _their_ plot, yes.”  
  
“So if you are the middle, and you are for a world with no restrictions, where is the Order one, eh?”  
  
“I speak for that part of the mind,” fake Katara answered. “They recognize that our state must be calmed and that this plan is the best method.”  
  
“That is because they wish life regimented. Ordered. _Sterile_ ,” fake Me countered.  
  
“I’m getting rather tired of the constant attacks,” I retorted. I crossed my arms. “I’ll do you one better. A compromise that will help you with this squabble.”  
  
‘Yes?”  
  
“Leave Earth alone,” I said succinctly. “Stop meddling with it. Let Humanity find its own way. They can do that, short-sighted as they are.”  
  
“That is not possible,” fake Katara said. “We are a part of the Earth. Its fate is ours. If the wrong outcome occurs, we are lost too.”  
  
“This conversation is going nowhere,” fake Me said, yawning for effect. “What will it be, friend? Help them ruin this world as it is? Or stop them and let us take a turn?”  
  
I narrowed my eyes, making calculations. I had some thoughts on how to handle this. One thing that might work.  
  
One horrible, terrifying thing.  
  
“I’ll be right back,” I said, turning back into the TARDIS with the girls following me. I went to the controls and activated a stealth field to keep the visiting entities out.  
  
“How can we handle this?”, Korra asked. “Whatever choice we make, there will be a fight.”  
  
“Likely,” I said. “That’s why I have a plan.” I reached for the TARDIS controls. “I’m going to hook the TARDIS into the distortion that swapped the islands through space-time and destabilize it. They’re connected to it. Even the side opposed to the solution. With enough energy, violently delivered...” I clicked a switch. “...well, the feedback will be nasty. I may end up lobotomizing the thing.”  
  
“Are you... sure?” Korra asked me cautiously. I could see the worry on her face. “That doesn’t sound right.”  
  
“No, it’s not a good thing, but right now it’s the only hope for this world.” I pulled back another lever and the TARDIS powered up.  
  
The door didn’t open. But the two figures appeared inside anyway. “What are you doing?”, the fake me asked.  
  
“Stopping you two from playing games with the fate of this world,” I stated. “I’m giving these people their world back.”  
  
The Other laughed. “Oh, quite clever. You’re going to turn their precious Change against them. You will use the same energy they use to keep the islands shifted into opposite worlds in order to destroy our Mind.” The being let out a truly satanic-sounding laugh. "But do you recognize what will be done?”  
  
“Whatever do you mean?”  
  
Fake Katara’s eyes lowered. “We would fight back. All of us, as a unified mind. We may yet fail, but the energy from that combat would destroy this island. On _both_ sides of the transference.”  
  
I stopped and eyed them. No. It was a bluff. I’d calculated for that...  
  
I ran the calculations again. The link would work both ways. Energy would pour into the other world as well. Energy coming out right at Nantucket. The people of that island would find their future far shorter than it would have been  
  
I swallowed. In order to save this world, to save billions here, I had to kill the denizens of both Nantuckets.  The natives on this version, and the thousands of people who now lived on the other side of the rift.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator is faced with a cruel choice. Can he condemn thousands to save billions?

As my thoughts circulated I found myself wandering over to the controls. Everything was about ready. A few button presses and I would begin destabilizing the dimensional link connecting this Nantucket to the other and causing both to be maintained in other times and spaces. The common Mind entity who’s split personalities argued before me would be overwhelmed by the power.  
  
And in the process, every living thing on either version of Nantucket would die in a blaze of energy.  
  
Thousands of innocent people, altogether.  
  
“Are they... telling the truth, Doc?”, Korra asked.  
  
I looked up from the controls. “Yes,” I croaked. “They are.”  
  
“So, if you do this...”  
  
I cut Asami off. “I’ll be personally killing thousands of innocent people.” I swallowed. “And if I don’t, billions will die here on this world.”  
  
“Help me overthrow them,” the phantom Me originated by the pro-Entropy “Others” insisted. “Then you will have your victory.”  
  
“And you will ruin the world in your own way,” I countered. I looked at them. “Can’t you reconcile? Find another way!”  
  
“We cannot,” the fake Katara said.  
  
I balled my hands into fists and looked away. My hearts swelled with pain. Why? Why did it have to be this way?  
  
“Please, isn’t there another way?”, Korra asked me.  
  
I shook my head. “No. No, we don’t have the power to undo the Change, we would need part of the Mind’s help at least.” I glared at my doppelganger. “And they would just do as they pleased afterward.”  
  
Perhaps I was being unfairly mistrustful. Some chaos, some flexibility in things, is always necessary to keep things from becoming sterile. But this... this thing... I could see the malevolence, I was certain of it. It cared even less for the human lives than the other ones did. They were firm to their course, unyielding, but at least they thought it was better for Humanity. He made no such pretenses. This was for the benefit of his part of the Mind. That was all.  
  
My hand twisted a couple of dials, readying the TARDIS engines for the link. They were shaking as the final adjustments were made. All I had to do was pull one lever to begin the process.  
  
One lever to save billions.  
  
One lever to condemn thousands.  
  
The arithmetic was clear. The Vulcans would say the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Others might point out that the people on Nantucket would have a quick, clean death, wiped off the face of that other world in a blast of energy, while on this world the dead in the coming years would suffer gruesomely in their demises.  
  
I couldn’t stand by and allow those billions to suffer and die like that.  
  
Just one pull. It would be quick. Like, say, ripping off a bandage. And then it would be over.  
  
And there was nothing the Mind could do to stop me, not with our field reinforced. All they could do was project themselves in here.  
  
Just one pull.  
  
Just one. To save billions. It had to be done.  
  
It had to.  
  
I let out a pained breath and set my hand on the lever. I had to do it.  
  
I.... I had to... I...  
  
I....  
  
Tears obscured my vision. I found myself sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
Because... I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t make this choice. I couldn’t intentionally kill thousands of people like that. Not like he would.  
  
Not like Triumphant would have.  
  
Because I wasn’t him. I had turned my back on him.  
  
“I can’t do this,” I wept. “I can’t.”  
  
My rational voice raged at my indecision. _You have to! You don’t have a choice! Billions will die if you don’t!_  
  
“Why?”, I gasped between sobs. “Why can’t there be another way? Why can’t you... why can’t you listen to _conscious_?! Why does it have to be _death!?_ ” I was screaming as I looked at the two sections of the Mind.  
  
“That has been our agony since the decision was made,” the fake Katara said quietly.  
  
I slumped against the controls until I was sitting on the floor. I was being a coward and I knew it. And no matter how I walked out of this day, no matter what choice I made, that choice would cost me a part of my soul. Perhaps all of it.  
  
Why? Why did it have to be _me_?!  
  
Granny Weatherwax’s words played in my head again.  
  
“ _You took the name, sir, and made it yours! And the Name took you and made you its!_ ”  
  
I cursed the younger me that had stood before Darth Malgus so long ago, boastfully replying to his “Who are you?” demand with “I’m the Doctor”. I cursed the younger me who had stood on Mogo and decided to keep using the name. I cursed my younger self on every time when I was told to take a different name and I refused.  
  
Because... now this is what I was reduced to. I had no way out of this decision. Not without abandoning this world to its fate with the Change, and all of the suffering it would bring.  
  
Kill thousands to save billions. Or refuse and leave those billions to suffer and die in the collapse of their civilization.  
  
I would never, could never, forgive myself.  
  
“Doctor?”  
  
My eyes opened. Korra was looking at me. Her crystal blue eyes were shining with compassion. “Korra, I’m sorry,” I said to her. “I’m sorry I...”  
  
“It’s okay.” Asami knelt down beside her and faced me as well, pretty green eyes and all. “You always find another way.”  
  
“I’ve thought of everything,” I countered. “I don’t have the power to overturn the Change. I can’t convince the Mind to do it. If I access the raw power of the island’s transference with the TARDIS it will destabilize and destroy both islands. It’s the only way.”  
  
“Maybe not,” Korra said. She looked at the two figures by the door. “I have a feeling.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“This being is a spirit, or something like it,” she said. “A composite spirit made up of a whole lot of spirits. So many it’s out of balance.”  
  
I blinked away remnant tears. “That’s a good way of putting it, I suppose.”  
  
“What if we could fix that?”, Korra asked. “I’m the Avatar. And I know the Spiritbending technique to restore an unbalanced spirit. If I used that on them, maybe it would fix the problem?”  
  
I pursed my lips in calculation. “It would be difficult. All of those constituent aspects jostling around. You might get overwhelmed.”  
  
“But I can try,” Korra said. “And if I can convince them to calm down, I can get them to undo the Change, right?”  
  
“Never,” my doppelganger declared. “We will not be shackled!”  
  
“It would heal us all,” the fake Katara pointed out. “The young woman’s proposal is wise.”  
  
“No!,” he insisted, spittle forming on his lips. “ _No no no no! We will not be rejoined!_ ” he looked to Korra and tried to lash out with his power. He looked more pained than Korra as a result of the exchange; inside the field he was too weak to wrestle with her spirit. “We will not allow this!”, he vowed before disappearing.  
  
“What about you?”, Korra asked the remaining figure. “Would you let me try to rebalance you? And then you can undo the Change?”  
  
“I... I believe we would welcome such. But it will not be easy. Our divisions are strong. And you may lack the power to do it.”  
  
“I’ll try anyway,” Korra answered immediately.  
  
  
  
  
Preparations were quick. We sat outside of the TARDIS to improve the connection to the Mind being. Korra sat before the representation that looked like Katara and assumed a meditative position. I sat beside her and extended my right hand to her face while my left held Asami’s. “I’m ready,” Asami assured us.  
  
I nodded to Korra. She nodded back and placed her hands before her in a meditative posture. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. Through the telepathic connection I sensed the Avatar Spirit’s energies shift and flow as she quieted her mind for meditation to access the full range of her power.  
  
She extended her hands suddenly and the representation of the Mind as Katara extended limbs ahead, taking Korra’s hands. A small, short grunt came from Korra, but she did not slacken.  
  
We were a linked chain. The aspect connected Korra to the Mind. She connected me. And I connected Asami. We found ourselves in an open and dark field of some sort, surrounded by what looked like fireflies. But I knew they weren’t. “Individual mind-states,” I pondered as the flitted about us.  
  
It was clear from the pattern that the grouping was not whole. They had splintered in several directions, showing the cause of the Mind’s decay and the rise of the factions using the Mind’s latent powers.  
  
“So what do we do?”, Asami asked.  
  
“We watch Korra while she focuses her power in here and tries to mend their shattered minds,” I answered. Even in spirit form like I was, I still made sure to carry the trusty sonic screwdriver and sonic disruptor. Asami had her glove as usual.  
  
Korra was seating inside of this place, still meditating. The Avatar State’s glow shined in her eyes. With raised hands she created funnels of water that started enveloping some of the fireflies and shifting them together. “Unh,” Korra gasped. “They’re... fighting me.”  
  
We got confirmation a moment later when a massive tusked monster, like an elephant out of the most oppressive fantasy regime you could imagine, stomped almost to where we were. I brought up the sonic and hit it with enough of a blast to stagger it. Asami jumped onto its stunned head and hit the false animal right between the eyes with a kick.  
  
 _WE WILL NOT BE DENIED! WE WILL HAVE ENTROPY!_ More lights flared and rushed us. _ALL WILL BE CHAOS!_  
  
More beasties came at us. Asami looked at the numbers of them while I made my disruptor act like it was far more violent than usually implemented. “How are you doing that?”, she asked.  
  
“We’re not in the real world, Asami,” I reminded her. “The power of the mind is at work here. All of it is pure thought.”  
  
Asami smiled and reached her arms out. I could see she was thinking of something. I heard some clanging as something metal landed in front of her. I had to turn away to push attackers away from Korra so I only heard clanging as she presumably finished what she was doing.  
  
Bright silver bolts started smashing into the creatures and other figures of the resisting portions of the Mind. I turned and was most amused to see Asami in a power suit. Not just anyone - eliminate her clear visor that let her face be shown through it and the coloring, and it was essentially Tony Stark’s power armor.  
  
Heh. First a Green Lantern, now she was Iron Asami. At least in the mind.  
  
Korra’s hands raised and blue light started to emanate from them. The familiar pattern design of Raava formed over her torso as the blue light expanded. The rebuilding process was growing.  
  
So was the resistance. I had to throw myself to the side as a massive form stomped, not bothering to give itself a shape beyond vague humanoid form and massive, meaty appendages that looked ready to pound Korra to paste. I threw a full blast at it with my mind. In this realm, the power of a Time Lord brain gave me some impressive advantages. Even if it looked like I was just using souped up versions of my sonic devices, that was my way of using my mind in familiar ways; my tools.  
  
Asami took to the idea of flying power armor like a duck to water. She didn’t have a Time Lord brain or the power of a light spirit, but she did have her will and her intelligence. And a strong, strong drive to protect Korra.  
  
And she needed it. I heard her cry out through the connection. “It’s fighting too hard,” she protested. “I’m losing my hold on it!”  
  
I backed up toward her. Perhaps if I tried to use my Time Lord brain to support her power. I put a hand to her shoulder in the mindscape and tried to join the link.  
  
It felt like I had slammed my head with a sledgehammer. I fell over in the mindscape and nearly so in the real world. For a brief moment I fell out of the trance state and nearly lost my hold on Korra that allowed Asami and I to participate. I had to concentrate to keep it in place and to delve back in.  
  
Asami was fighting like she was possessed, throwing punches and blasts and everything to keep the approaching figures off of Korra. “How much longer?!”, she asked.  
  
“I don’t know,” Korra answered. “It’s fighting me. I don’t know if I can keep enough strength to finish restoring the Mind’s balance.”  
  
I frowned. To come this far and reach our limit with the task undone? That would again leave only the horrible as an alternative. And I couldn’t allow that.  
  
No. No, it would not come to pass.  
  
And then I realized what would do it. “Korra.” I got beside her. “Listen, you’re connected directly to this being. That means you’re connected to the dimensional transference rift that powers so much of what they’re doing. You can call upon that power yourself if you need to. Just be careful with it.”  
  
“Right.” Korra’s mind-self took in a breath and started up again. Details of her form started to fade out; she looked like she was turning pure, bright blue. The innate energies of her spirit, in other words. All of which focused not in any particular direction as she reached for the connection to the Mind’s dimensional tear.  
  
  
  
Suddenly the blue light expanded from her, golden light weaved within it. I felt my jaw open in astonishment. Korra had learned her lessons from Janias well; in this place, with her Avatar Spirit, she had connected to that same well of serene power to help stitch together the fragmented, chaotic mess of the Life Mind. The figures attacking us recoiled as if the energy burned them. But that’s not what it was doing. Instead it seemed to be doing the exact opposite. The power of Raava’s light and the Light Side of the Force merged and complemented each other, providing the gentle serenity of the latter with the inherent power of the first to calm them of their rancor, all of it powered further by the energy she was drawing from the dimensional rift that had swapped the two Nantucket islands.  
  
I could feel it through the connection. Deep down, so many of those minds were those who were lost to the darkness of Humanity, who were oh so numerous in the 20th Century. They had been beings who had died in terror and pain and who had carried that with them into the gestault mind. Their helpless rage had fueled the disruption that had driven the world Mind mad and threatened to direct its power at the world itself, driving the sane part of the Mind to its desperate and horrifying plan to force the world into the Change. A short term loss since so many more would be lost in similar circumstances, but with the hope that the shock would drive Mankind to a more spiritual lifestyle that would lessen the shock of death and the disruption upon the mind becoming part of the whole.  
  
It would not have worked, I think. Humans aren’t like that. But the Mind didn’t think like Humans.  
  
But now Korra was soothing those restless minds. Indeed, her own terrible experiences, the things that nearly broke her, the suffering she had endured, was a common link that made them even more accepting of her spirit’s guidance.  
  
I also thought I felt something else through the connection. Korra, the Avatar of another world, now bonded with what passed for the personification of Life for this world. And maybe even the other, given the energy she was putting out and her link to the connection between worlds.  
  
Everything turned blue and gold. The power was becoming too much. Like I was trying to hold a live wire. To protect myself and Asami I had to end the connection.  
  
  
  
  
We were back on that Bronze Age Nantucket transplanted to 1998 A.D. The campfire crackled more lowly than before.  
  
The false Katara was gone.  
  
I felt bone weary and slumped over. The strain of connecting Asami and keeping the connection with Korra had gotten to me. Maybe some of that power she had taken in had hurt me as well.  
  
“Korra?”  
  
Asami was getting to her feet. I looked over to where Korra was sitting.  
  
Well, not sitting anymore. She was sprawled out, as if she had fallen backward from her meditative position after trying to get up. Her face had lost its color and her lips looked a little blue.  
  
My hearts skipped the beat. All of that power she had taken in and used. Had it... had it burnt out her body? The horrible thought nearly laid me low. Had we come so far just for our success here to have made us pay a terrible cost.  
  
“ _Korra!_ ” Asami was at her side while I tried to sit up. She rested a hand on Korra’s face. Tears were already forming in her face as she clearly considered the worst.  
  
I reached for her wrist. My fingers desperately searched for the distinct sensation of a pulse.  
  
At first, I felt nothing.  
  
Just as I was scrambling for my sonic, though, the weak telltale pressure pushed against the tip of my finger. “She’s alive,” I said while running the sonic over her. “She took in so much energy that she’s very weak right now. Let’s get her back into the TARDIS.”  
  
I was ready to pick Korra up, but Asami beat me to it. Whether she was physically stronger than I usually expected or just consumed with such worry that she didn’t pay attention to her limits, Asami proved quite capable of carrying Korra bodily into the TARDIS and to my hammock. I provided a medication. Not medigel, since she might be too weak for it, but simply something to help her body recover from the taxing ordeal of channeling the energy she’d taken in.  
  
I returned from the library with a seat for Asami. “Did it work?”, Asami asked. “Did we actually make this work?”  
  
“We’re about to find out.” I held out a torch with a new set of batteries and stepped outside of the TARDIS. I took in a breath and flipped the switch.  
  
A beam of light came from the end.  
  
“We have restored that which was,” a voice said. A very familiar one.  
  
I turned.  
  
They had taken Korra’s form.  
  
“Really?”, I asked.  
  
The Mind’s visage as my friend smiled. “Your friend the Avatar has given us a blessing we never thought could occur. For the first time in a great while we are whole. And we have seen the futures that may come without the terror to distort our vision to further horrors.”  
  
I nodded. “All of the worlds I showed her...”  
  
“...and she has shown us now. All of the possibilities for our world. We embrace them. And we will do what we can to guide the people of this world to greatness.” The Mind’s visage of Korra bowed her head. “And we will remember what you did this night. We will remember that given the choice, the Doctor and the Avatar will always side with Life.”  
  
“Thank you.” It was all I could say. But as I thought of it, a question came to me. “But what about the island? The Change was powered by the transference. Now that you have undone the Change...”  
  
“The transference has been made permanent,” the Mind told me. “Korra drew upon the power of it to heal us. By doing so she has exhausted the rift and caused it to close. To re-open it would create the same dangers you considered to use against us.”  
  
I nodded. “I see. So all of those people are trapped in the Bronze Age. And the people on this island....”  
  
“....we will do what we can for them,” the Mind pledged. “We give you our promise. Go now, Doctor. Go and spread to other worlds the greatness you have given us.”  
  
I... had no words to reply to that. There was nothing to say.  
  
So I left.  
  
  
  
  
I was so tired that I took a nap in the library, where the two young ladies we had rescued were still sleeping to recuperate. After a few hours I went out to check on my Companions. Asami had somehow fallen asleep in the chair. Exhaustion, clearly. She was laying forward in it and her head was settled beside Korra’s shoulder.  
  
Their hands were still clasped.  
  
There was something rather heartwarming about that. An affection between the two that was beyond mere friendship.  
  
Indeed, they did seem rather closer these days than when I first met them. I’d observed that over our months together traveling. It was quite sweet.  
  
I went to work fixing up a few bugs with the TARDIS. When I looked up the two young ladies we had rescued were stepping out of the door. “Where are we going to go?”, one asked.  
  
“What do you mean by that?”  
  
“Our dad’s dead,” the other, the older one, answered. I could hear both had a faint accent, the kind you get from African-Americans in the Southeast of the United States. “Grandpa too. We’ve got nobody left.”  
  
“What about mom?”, the younger one asked.  
  
“What about her?” The older girl made a face. “Like she’d care about us. She left us behind. Didn’t want us.”  
  
“People used to say Dad made her. That he made her leave us. He would ruin her life.”  
  
“Would either of you happen to know where your mother lives?”, I asked. “I can find her then.”  
  
“Dunno.”  
  
“She’d be on a ship or something.”  
  
“A ship?”  
  
“Yeah, she was in the military,” the older girl said.  
  
“Navy then? That might be tricky to find, lots of Navy...”  
  
“Naw, not Navy,” the girl said. “I know that. Mom was the other one.”  
  
Something went _click_ in my head. Like usual when circumstance or fate or whatever dropped a coincidence in my lap. “Your mother... was what, Coast Guard then?”  
  
“Yeah.” The younger daughter frowned. “Dad said she loved it more than us.”  
  
“Your father, rest his soul, had his reasons to be bitter, I imagine, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s right.” I clapped my hands together. “Alright young ladies, I tend to know when I’m walking into a colossal coincidence, or rather when my TARDIS has sent me into one. Do either of you remember your mother’s name? Would it happen to be ‘Marian’?”  
  
“Yeah!”, the older girl said. “That was it!”  
  
I chuckled. “Oh dear, how amusing.” I went to the TARDIS controls. “Alright girls, you have a choice. I drop you off back home and you try to make your way together in the world you know. Or you accept the loss of television and hip hop or what have you and go to live with your mother.”  
  
“What you mean by that?”  
  
“Your mother’s ship was at Nantucket, young ladies. She was trapped with the island, thrown across the oceans of eternity to another Earth three thousand years in the past,” I explained.  
  
“How do you know this stuff?”  
  
“I’m a Time Lord, trade secret. Now....” I put my lips over my mouth and then indicated my sleeping Companions. “Would you like to make your choice?”  
  
The girls conversed. At length. I think curiosity and the daunting prospect of living alone in 1998 America as orphan teenagers, liable to be split up by the State foster system, overwhelmed trepidation about luxuries they would lose.  
  
And so, after a stop by their home to pick up things, we were off.  
  
  
  
  
In a world where Long Island was not an expanse of suburbs leading to upper class estates, farms dotted the island. And at one particular farm the TARDIS VWORPed into existence. A newly completed farmhouse. The air was warm with summer.  
  
I had not taken the girls straight to Nantucket on the other side. Having them present might have changed too much in the life of a very important Nantucket leader. Instead I brought them to what would be called 12AE in this world. Twelve years had passed for them since “the Event”, the dimensional transference.  
  
“Go on up,” I said to the girls, who nodded. I remained behind. I nearly left but... I thought better of it. I wanted to make sure this would go well.  
  
The door was answered by a child. Then a woman with blonde hair came up. I suddenly realized the two young ladies didn’t know the exact reason their parents divorced and the terrible secret their father had wielded over their mother to secure her surrender to his demands in the separation. They would find out soon enough.  
  
Unsurprisingly, a voice used to shouting commands across a sailing vessel at sea was great enough for me to hear the “ _JESUS, HOW?!_ ” and the indications of distant exclaimations of joy.  
  
The door opened again. The young ladies came out, leading their mother up to me. She was built wiry, muscled but not as thickly as Korra, with short-cut dark hair that might just be turning gray at the temples. She came up hand in-hand with the blonde woman, who looked to be at least fifteen years her younger. I could see behind them a pair of children, young girls barely ten years of age, playing on the porch. “Good morning, my ladies,” I said courteously. “Marian Alston-Kurlelo and Swindapa Alston-Kurlelo, I presume?”  
  
“I’ve only got one question for you.” Marian’s voice, still showing the accent of the backwoods of South Carolina, sounded both fierce and utterly confused. “ _How_? How did you bring my girls through? How did....”  
  
“In short? I’m a Time Lord. I travel six dimensions of space-time in my TARDIS.” I knocked on the TARDIS door lightly. “And I was fortunate enough to save your daughters from the car crash that killed your unlamented late ex-husband John. And while that does sound fantastical, I would think living in the Bronze Age for a dozen years might broaden your mind’s horizons a bit on the infinite possibilities of Creation, my good Commodore.” I nodded my head at them. “Your daughters needed a home. I offered them a chance to see if you would have room for them.”  
  
“Of course I have room for them,” Marian snapped. “But this is all so... it’s just so crazy!”  
  
“That it is,” I agreed heartily. “Any more questions? I’m rather tired due to dealing with the entire crisis Nantucket’s dimensional transference caused, so I’m afraid my energy levels are a bit low for a prolonged interrogation.”  
  
For a moment I thought she would ask if I knew what caused the Event. But she stopped and looked to Swindapa. The younger Fiernan woman - a native of what would later be called England after a couple of ethnic dislocations in the following millennia - smiled sweetly at me. “Thank you for bringing Marian’s daughters to her,” Swindapa said kindly. “But what is your name? They said they didn’t know.”  
  
I sighed. And for a moment I considered my answer carefully. “My name. Well, that’s been something of an issue for me lately,” I admitted. “I suppose...” I sighed and smiled lightly. “...that it’s just fair to tell you this. That on many worlds and by many cultures, I am called the Doctor.” I nodded. “And if that is all?”  
  
Had I stayed, there would have been more questions. But I stepped back into the TARDIS and the surreal nature of what had happened - and for Marian the joy of actually having the daughters she was forced to abandon returned to her - kept them from pressing further inquiries.  
  
That was the end of the conversation. However, I did take note of something... peculiar. As I went to close the TARDIS door, I looked beyond the Alston-Kurlelos to their adopted daughters. The two young girls - one light-skinned and red-haired and the other with the brown complexion of a biracial child - were playing on the porch. Near them, severak sets of wind chimes were hanging from the porch sealing. There was almost no wind at the moment to move them.  
  
And then, the second girl with the brown complexion - I couldn’t remember her name - pushed her hand out into the air. Like she was pushing the chimes in front of her if she had been near them. She wasn’t though. It looked like she was just making a hand motion while playing with her sister.  
  
Those chimes moved as if a gust of wind had struck them. I could faintly hear their ringing from my place at the TARDIS door. A nearby set of chimes.... didn’t move at all.  
  
I blinked. And I wondered if I was seeing things even as I closed the door. I was tired. I needed to rest.  
  
Such an interesting sight...  
  
  
  
  
It took a few days for Korra to recover her strength. Asami and I made sure she was comfortable. As the time went I could see the gears moving in her head, so to speak. Korra was in deep thought about something.  
  
We hadn’t gone anywhere in particular when they approached me in the TARDIS control room. “So, feeling all refreshed now?”, I asked. “Naga could use some walksies, she’s moody when you’re not well and I’m the one giving them.”  
  
Korra nodded, smiling thinly. “Actually... I can handle that. But there’s something else I want to talk about.”  
  
“Oh?”, I asked. “Is everything alright?”  
  
“Yes. It’s the best it’s been in a while,” Korra said. “Could that spirit go mad again?”  
  
I scratched at my chin. “I’m not sure. Over time, maybe. Human population is increasing, more people dying, more raw information joining the whole. On the other hand, you did a great job repairing it, and it might have the power and knowledge to sustain its unity this time.”  
  
“I’d like to know,” Korra said. “If there’s a way to find out, can we check on it?”  
  
I thought about it for a moment. “Certainly,” I answered when my thoughts were finished. I went to the TARDIS controls. “Let’s go ahead, oh, a hundred years? See if there’s anything interesting?”  
  
They nodded.  
  
  
  
  
We stepped back out of the TARDIS on Nantucket. It was still forested around our landing spot, but I could hear people in the distance. The island ahd been re-settled. We followed a path to a clearing where there was a gathering of people. Nearby was a monument of granite and stone. I read the words. “Commemoration of the Change....” I blinked. Why would they call it that when there was no Change?  
  
We made our way through the crowd to an open field. A string of rope tied it off from the spectators; within parents were grooming children and preparing for what looked like a contest or recital of sorts. There were buckets and wood logs and other things about. One contestant was named, a young girl with mixed race ancestry that left her with a light brown complexion. She stepped up to the buckets, bowed, and began to move her arms in a somewhat familiar fashion.  
  
Water came up from the buckets in streams and began to levitate around the girl. Not just levitate, but move, move in motion with her arms, changing only to make all sorts of beautiful shapes in the air.  
  
I admit, my mouth dropped open from astonishment.  
  
“She’s Waterbending,” I heard Korra say in a hushed tone, her voice full of stunned awe.  
  
We stood and watched the festivities continue. A young boy, no older than 12 I imagine, play a guitar by Earthbending a guitar pick with earthen elements in it. Two children, a brother and sister of about 10 and 13 respectively, put on a show of Firebending dancing with what sounded like club dance music that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Fire Nation. Another young girl, this one barely eight I would imagine, squealed as she guided a kite in an air show over our heads.  
  
And as the show went on, I began laughing. I stepped out of the crowd to avoid disturbing their enjoyment and managed to stifle my laughter until we got to a distance. “What is it?”, Asami asked me.  
  
I looked to Korra with what I imagine was an energetic and slightly manic smile. I put my hands on her shoulders. “You magnificent.... information exchange! Alteration of the very fabric of this world on a quantum level, all from your energy!”  
  
Korra always had trouble when I started babbling technobabble. But this time she understood. “When I used my power to restore the Mind, I caused this?”  
  
“Yes!”, I shouted with glee. “You did! The Mind, it wasn’t just some depository for deceased minds, it has a symbiotic relationship with this world, with... with the very core of life here. And when your energy became part of it to heal the Mind, it gained that energy and passed it on. In essence, Korra, you didn’t just save the Mind from its own instability, you passed on the bending arts to this _entire world_. To _both worlds_ , probably!” Indeed my mind flashed back to the Alston-Kurlelo estate and my view of the wind chimes; their adopted daughter had been Airbending, I was sure of it.  
  
Korra and Asami exchanged amazed looks.  
  
“Excuse me, sir, ladies?” A folksly old man stepped up. Some of his facial structure and the light tint of his skin hinted at some old Native American ancestry, although most of his features were European. “Not from around here? Are you here to celebrate the Anniversary of the Change?”  
  
“Oh, um, certainly,” I said. “I saw the monument, quite lovely. I was just trying to explain it to my friends, but if you know anything better, sir?”  
  
“Of course I do!”, he said happily. “Happened nigh on two hundred years ago. Back when the world was a darker place. One night a dome of light covered this island, and then all of the machines and technology... boom! They went out. No cars, no old T-visions, _nothing_! Everyone panicked, everyone thought the world was ending. And then everyone saw the light!” The old man clapped his hands. “Blue light, gold light, that sort of thing. And then things came back on. Things looked back to normal until the first elementists started popping up....”  
  
“I’m sure the world was quite interesting back then,” I mused.  
  
“It was sir, it was indeed. Martin, by the way.” He offered his hand and I took it. “My mom’s ancestors were from this island, you know,” Martin said wistfully. “The old Indians who got pulled through on it. Poor people had a rough time, but they did their best to survive. Carried on stories about things going on that night. About a boy and girl of the tribe hearin’ an argument between gods or spirits or something, one side saying we deserved to lose our technology, the other wanting it undone. Lots of folk listen to the story. Lots of folk think there’s truth in it, that maybe whatever did the Change to destroy our society was talked out of it by something, something that gave us this gift to make us a better people. And that’s what things are like now.”  
  
I nodded. “Quite an idea. I trust, however, that you will live up to that sentiment.” I shook his hand. “Good day, Martin.”  
  
He toddled along, heading to the crowd as semi-finals for the event were held. I looked back and found Korra in tears. “I made this world better,” she said quietly. “I didn’t just save it. I actually made it better.”  
  
“Well...” I smiled softly and winked. “You’re the Avatar. I hear it’s all part of the job.”  
  
We returned to the TARDIS. As we got to the door, I heard concern come to Korra’s voice. “I hope the Mind spirit stays stable though.”  
  
“Yes. I imagine over time, if the population gets big enough, it might face the same problem. Of course...”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Well, the mind did this with your essence. Yours and Raava’s,” I said. “Maybe it can do other things with them.” We had arrived at the TARDIS by this point and I opened the door.  
  
Korra stood there and stared at me. “You don’t mean...”  
  
“Just a thought,” I said. I didn’t have to say what thought.  
  
After all, if the Mind feared its balance, or the world’s balance, was coming undone, or even if it felt it needed constant attention.... well, perhaps it could make an Avatar of its own to deal with that issue....


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami decide they're ready to return home.

I was working on something later that day when Korra and Asami approached me. “I need to talk to you about something,” Korra said. She looked at Asami, who nodded agreement. “We both do.”  
  
I could see they’d been talking about something. And I had an inkling to what it was.  
  
“When I came with you, I was trying to figure out what I was and what I wanted to be. And after everything that’s happened, i know the answer to that,” Korra said. “I’m the Avatar. I accept that’s what I’ll always be and I know that’s what I actually want. And it’s been great traveling with you and seeing all of these worlds, and helping you save them, I’ll never forget it. But I think it’s time that I got back to work on my own world. I’m ready to go home, Doc.”  
  
I nodded. I... honestly found myself feeling better than I imagined I would when this day came. “I see.” I nodded and widened my arms, prompting her to accept the proffered hug. “That’s wonderful news, Korra.”  
  
“I’ll be going with her,” Asami said. “I’ve been having fun seeing all of these places but I have to get back to running my company and rebuilding Republic City.”  
  
“Of course,” I answered. “And that way you’re home in case Korra needs your help.”  
  
“I know you might get lonely, if you want to stay with us for a while...” Asami began.  
  
“No, no, don’t worry,” I said. “I’m... I’m actually quite happy for you two,” I said. “That you’ve gotten to see the wonders of Creation with me and that you feel like going home now. I understand. And I’ll be just fine, I promise.”  
  
“You’re welcome to visit whenever you want,” Korra assured me. “I mean, I’m not going to be staying home long, I need to start traveling the world and doing what I can to restore balance. But you can find me with the beacon whenever you want, right?”  
  
“Yes. Yes I can.” I went to the TARDIS controls. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was... strange. As much as I loved traveling again, and traveling with them, seeing their astounded and amazed faces whenever they saw a new wonder of creation... I was just as happy to see they were ready to go home. It meant Korra was, if not fully healed, at least well on the track to recovery. She was ready to face her issues and deal with them herself.  
  
After everything that had happened, after my failure to give her the help she’d needed against the Red Lotus, I had succeeded in helping her recover from the result of my failure. It was atonement. And it was one thing I had needed as well. “Alright,” I said. “Go ahead and get your things. I’ll be setting us for a few hours after we left. Wouldn’t want your folks to worry too much, eh? Just let me know when you’re ready...”  
  
  
  
  
We returned to the place where we’d left all those months before. Korra guided Naga out and the polar bear dog, happy to be free from the confines of her (spacy) kennel in the TARDIS, chuffed happily and jumped about.  
  
We were getting their final bags out, with mementos and such, when Tonraq and Senna appeared. They happily embraced Korra. “We’ve been to so many places, I can’t wait to tell you about them,” Korra said to them.  
  
“Thank you, Doctor.” Senna stepped up to me. “Thank you for helping Korra when she needed it and for keeping her safe.”  
  
“It was a mutual effort,” I said. “Korra did the same for me.”  
  
Tonraq summoned the palace’s staff to get their things. “Do you plan on leaving soon?”, he asked me.  
  
I nodded. “Yes, I believe it’s time I got back to work. There are things I need to look into. Things I need to do. Things to consider. That sort of thing.”  
  
“Then I hope you’ll stay for dinner, at least,” he said. “It’s the least I could do for you given the circumstances.”  
  
As things were, I was ready to give one last good try to Water Tribe cuisine, and I was hungry. So I graciously accepted.  
  
  
  
  
That night, the dinner turned into a fond retelling of the worlds we had visited, the aliens and other life forms Korra and Asami had encountered. “....seriously, he looked like a hog monkey,” Asami was saying, recalling one Hoggish Greedley. “A giant hog monkey with a weird voice.”  
  
Korra laughed. “And that corruption spirit they had working for them. One blast of water and he was thrashing around like he was on fire or something!”  
  
There was some laughter around the table at that. I didn’t join in the stories much, letting Korra and Asami take the lead on it. After dinner wrapped up I was ready to leave when Tenzin intercepted me. “I’d like to speak to you,” he said.  
  
“Certainly.” I followed him to the hall leading to the dining room. “What is it?”  
  
“I want to thank you for what you’ve done for Korra,” he said. “I admit I wasn’t happy that you let her go with you. But it’s clear to me now that your journey is exactly what she needed.”  
  
I nodded. “Yes, I rather think it was.”  
  
“Do you know what Korra’s plans are now?”  
  
“I think she intends to start a journey through the Earth Kingdom,” I answered. “You’d have to talk to her for specifics. But she feels that her recovery will best be completed by fulfilling her Avatar duties.”  
  
“It’s a fine idea. The bandit problem is persisting in areas Kuvira’s army hasn’t arrived in yet.”  
  
“I’m sure it’ll make the job easier if they’re working together.”  
  
I didn’t add that it would hopefully make sure that the young Metalbender they’d left in charge of the cleanup didn’t take things too far.  
  
  
  
  
I was returning to the TARDIS to leave when Korra and Asami caught up to me, Naga trailing behind with tail wagging. “Where are you heading?”, Asami asked.  
  
“Oh, I don’t know. Ankh-Morpork maybe, been a while since I gave a lecture at the University, would like to put the pointy hat back on,” I answered. “Or maybe just a quiet world to relax a little.”  
  
“Wherever you go, I’m sure it’ll be just as exciting as anything I end up doing.” Korra’s arms opened and we exchanged a heartfelt hug. “Thank you so much for letting us go.”  
  
“Thank you for coming,” I answered. “It would have been lonely otherwise.”  
  
“It was such a great trip.” Asami hugged me next. “And I learned a lot that I can use to make our world better.”  
  
“Always a good thing,” I agreed. A moment later Naga nuzzled me with her massive muzzle. I patted her on the head. “Ah, you too eh? I gave Korra a full box of those jumbo size doggy biscuits you like, so you’ll find them with her.” I ruffled at the fur on her ear. “No more cramped TARDIS bay for you, at least.”  
  
That got me a low whine, as if Naga could remember how cramped it was to try and get out the TARDIS door.  
  
I looked to the others as I released her. “You have those temporal beacons, right?”  
  
Korra nodded and showed me the one on her belt. “Of course.”  
  
“Good. Call if you need me.” I nodded. “And I will be there.”  
  
“I know.” Korra nodded, smiling widely. She decided to give me another tight hug, as if the first wasn’t enough. “You’ve helped me so much.”  
  
I gave her a soft pat on the shoulder. “I’ve done what I can, and you did the same for me. Now, go out there and show the world that their Avatar is back and that she’s better than ever, eh?”  
  
“I’ll make sure they know it, I promise.”  
  
I didn’t enter the TARDIS until they had entered the palace proper. I watched them walk away and pondered the months of our journey. The exciting and dangerous moments, the happy ones, and those where we pondered the wounds we had carried with us when we first left this place. We had gone through an experience together on this trip, the three of us, and it had done its work. We were healed. Korra and Asami had enjoyed a splendid time together and seemed closer than other, like true sisters of the soul I thought.  
  
Of course, given Asami’s mannerisms when Korra looked to be on death’s door after healing the Mind, maybe I was wrong about that too.  
  
Oh, bah, I have more important things to ponder than relationship scopes. I’ll leave that to you types. You lot love that kind of thing, don’t deny it.  
  
Of course, when it came to the debt I felt toward Korra, my work was not yet done. I had one more duty to perform for Korra. A final thing to undo the damage done to her by my absence when she needed me most.  
  
I had to find out how to restore her link to the prior Avatars.  
  
And I was convinced I would manage it, perhaps in a day or in a year or in a century. I would _manage it_.  
  
I stepped back into the control room, closed the door quietly, and went to the TARDIS controls to shift out.  
  
It was strange to be alone again after so long. But... well, it wasn’t as bad as the prior times. I didn’t feel lonely and agonized. I felt uplifted, happy. We had enjoyed a good run and it was over. I was ready to face the six dimensions again. Alone, true, but not on a mad rampage or a desperate campaign of fixing my errors. And out there somewhere I knew I would find someone who was interested in seeing the entirety of Creation with me. Someone I could count upon. I wouldn’t be lonely for too long.  
  
I shifted the TARDIS into the Time Vortex and found myself looking at Katherine’s amethyst necklace, still where I always kept it hanging. I sometimes cried when I looked at it. Even after that time on Mogo. But now I couldn’t help but smile. I felt more whole now than I had in a long while. The issues with my name, well... I would settle that once and for all, but on my own time. For now there was the open road, a wide scope of dimensions to explore, and relatively speaking, all of the time in the...  
  
The TARDIS rocked under my feet. I was forced to grab the railing across from the control surface so that I didn’t fail. I stumbled over the rumbling to the monitor on the controls and surveyed... what was that? A massive dislocation, multi-dimensional. Something big and powerful had punched a hole and it was...  
  
Across from me, on the other side of the controls, space-time ripped open. I was shocked by that. It had managed to do so even inside the TARDIS, despite all precautions of the Gallifreyan technology at my disposal. There was a loud sound, a rushing of air, and the swirling blues of the vortex moved about each other. A figure came tumbling out.  
  
I moved around the controls as the prone newcomer started to get up. A hand darted out and took the railing, using it so that the figure could get to her knees. For it was a woman. A young-looking lady. Her wear was a tattered and ripped robe of purple, a lighter shade than my own tie or sonic screwdriver. Long hair of blue color, with some kept in a long pony-tail by an orange band, all of it now misshapen. When she looked up at me I could see the confusion and bewilderment in her blue eyes. “What... What is.... Where?” Her accent came off as refined through the TARDIS translator. It was reflecting to my ear a highly-born tone. Someone who knew to speak softly in the fashion of the upper class, if without the condescension that usually came with the like.  
  
I blinked.  
  
I recognized her.  
  
The only word that could come from my throat was a surprised squeak of “What?”  
  
The young lady up-righted herself further, keeping her eyes on me. “Sir? Where am I? Who are you?” She seemed to find her footing.  
  
“ _What?_ ”, I repeated, still lost in utter confusion.  
  
She blinked at me, still looking rather confused, about as confused as me. Her voice maintained a gentleness to it despite her clear bewilderment. “I apologize, I seem to... I am Princess Schala of the Kingdom of Zeal. I don’t mean any harm, I just want to know where I am.”  
  
I tried to give her a reply.  
  
But all that came out was another single word query.  
  
“ ** _What?!_** ”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, the end of the Korra and Asami Companion Arc of TPOAN. It was shorter than I'd originally planned, and a couple of upcoming episodes with the SI-Doctor's next Companion had originally been intended for their time in the TARDIS. But I had numerous distractions through November and December 2014, as stated, and since I knew I wanted to end their time aboard the TARDIS in a way to set up my Christmas Special/First Anniversary Special, I simply ran out of time.
> 
> But don't worry, we'll see them again. In fact, out of the three upcoming "two-part" stories, the Avatar world will be the setting for two of them, and each will have suitably epic elements to them. And, yes, they will reflect that Korra and Asami started falling in love. I may even put the Korrasami relationship tag on them.
> 
> But first things first! Tomorrow I post the opening to the 2014 Christmas Special... at the end of May. Heh.


End file.
